No Mandatory Animal ID

This has to fall into the misleading quote of the year awards.

"The National Animal Identification System is one of the tougher programs to administer, but we are making progress with the voluntary approach," Knight said. "It doesn't cost anything, it's confidential, it's simple to do and, most importantly, it's the right thing to do."

It costs nothing the man says. What, are the ear tags free? I don't think so. Do they apply themselves? I don't think so. Bruce Knight really needs to get his facts straight about the system. It costs a lot in time and labor and is definitely not simple to do. Has this man ever put ear tags in cows before? Does he have any idea the work and time would be required to do this. I have stated from the beginning that to do NAIS I would have to hire another person to work on the ranch just to take care of the system and that would simply break me. I would not be able to operate then. Simple, easy, cost free. what a BUNCH OF BULLSHIT!! Government propaganda to sooth the masses.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but the government keeps trying to convince us it will.

I know I haven't posted anything here in a while but there hasn't been much news. I started this to fight mandatory NAIS and they have changed the program to voluntary so I haven't had much to say. There are some states implementing statewide programs, Michigan and Wisconsin to be exact, and I haven't had much to say about that because that is within a states purview and it's up to the citizens of the state to fight it. I wish them luck in changing it.

I have been hearing some disquieting rumors of late that have me worried. The first is the Democrats in Congress might resurrect NAIS and pair it up with mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). I've been afraid of this when I heard that Congress was going to push COOL. I can't help but wonder why they want to make COOL as difficult as this for US producers. Why do we have to identify our products? Why not identify foreign meat that enters the food chain and leave US producers alone? Why should all the cost be on us and none on the importers of meat? I plan on keeping an eye on the situation and see what develops.

Another rumor I've heard is that Congress is planning on expanding NAIS to take in all food stuffs in the US.

Mary Zanoni, an expert on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) informs me that there is a new move in Congress for creating a single agency—now divided between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration—for overseeing food safety. What’s especially intriguing is the mechanism being pushed for this new agency to do its work. The Congressional proposals, she says, “contain a provision which, if enacted, would grant authority to the proposed new agency to create not only a mandatory NAIS, but in essence, mandatory tracking for all food products, apparently including produce, grains, virtually any food or food-producing animals. This is NAIS on steroids. In fact, it would subject local, small-scale producers of vegetables and fruits to the same regulatory hell that NAIS would impose on livestock owners.”

I couldn't believe it when I read it. You might remember my NAIS to include all vegetables and now it might be coming true. Unbelievable. I doubt they will use the name I proposed though. Federal Uniform Calories Key Identification Tracking (FUCK IT). They will come up with something a little more acceptable. This is something to really keep an eye on most definitly.

This is all coming about because of the recent pet food scare. We are back to the same thing though. Why should it be necessary to regulate all US producers for food safety when if they just kept a better eye on what's coming in from foreign countries, it would solve most of the problems.

There is a lot of things to keep an eye on with NAIS and ID issues and I continue to do that. Just because I don't have time to post on a regular basis doesn't mean I don't care, it means I am busy while still staying on top of the issue. The old saying goes, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and I am remaining vigilante.

A little review to start with. What is the purpose of NAIS and how is it going to be accomplished and who is the lead agency in it's implementation?

NAIS is a program by the USDA to allow them to track every animal in the US from birth to death. This is going to be done in cattle by means of an ear tag which even without the RFID technology will allow the USDA to figure out where a particular animal has been from the time of it's birth.

Why do I bring this up? I bring this up because of a little story about a South Dakota farmer and his experience with tagged cattle. It appears this farmer went to an auction yard and bought a bunch of calves to feed on his farm. He fed the calves until they were fat and then took them to the slaughter house for his pay day. He was in for a surprise though.

The packing plant would not pay him for seven head of his cattle and condemned the whole load of offal. Why? Because the seven head in question were Canadian cattle and were not supposed to be in this farmers possession.

"Unfortunately, it appears that USDA is not keeping track of the cattle being imported from Canada - under USDA's rules, these calves should never have been allowed to be sold in a South Dakota auction market. The Canadian officials apparently haven't been able to trace back the movements and origin of the calves, despite the official Canadian tags found in their ears." Fox said that USDA implemented a rule in 2005 to allow the importation of Canadian feeder cattle under 30 months of age, but only under very strict conditions.


"The cattle are supposed to enter the U.S. in sealed trucks and be transported directly to an identified feedlot. They are then to remain in the identified feedlot until they are hauled to a slaughter plant in a sealed truck," he said. "The fact that these calves showed up at a salebarn in South Dakota, were allowed to intermingle with U.S. cattle, and were not represented as Canadian cattle, indicates that USDA is not monitoring the very system it created.

The USDA wants to track all the cattle in the US, around 100 million cattle, and they can't even keep track of the small amount of cattle, I'm sure no more than 10 million, which come into the country from Canada. This is the perfect example of why NAIS is not going to work. The whole integrity of the program depends on the USDA being able to track these critters and here they prove on a smaller scale that they are incapable of doing just this.

Remember this example when the USDA official show up on your doorstep to sign you up for NAIS. Point out their proven inability to track cattle in the market system. See what they have to say about it. I bet they don't have an answer for you.

It's a new year and we still need to keep an eye on the NAIS situation. Maintaining this as a voluntary system is important to all who love freedom and keeping our eye on the government will hopefully maintain it this way.

Of particular interest to me is the recent USDA publication that studied the economic effects to producers of the BSE problems in the US.

Did BSE Announcements Reduce Beef Purchases?

Among the three markets examined—fresh beef, frozen beef, and frank-
furters—fresh beef provided the strongest case for an impact of the BSE
announcements. There is no evidence that the Canadian announcement
altered purchase patterns of fresh beef, but purchases during the first 2
weeks after the Washington State announcement were unusually low. Frozen
beef purchases fell only for the first week after the Washington State
announcement. Frankfurter purchases dropped in the second week following
each announcement, but purchases of no-beef frankfurters also fell,
suggesting that unrelated events were more likely responsible for the
decline.

The magnitude of responses in the market was difficult to estimate
precisely, but the duration was clear: within 2 weeks, consumers were
behaving exactly as they had before the announcements.

The reason I bring this study up is that it has a direct impact on NAIS. How? The driving force behind NAIS was to protect American producer from the economic impact of diseases like BSE. This shows the economic impact of BSE was close to zero. Within 2 weeks Americans were purchasing the same amount of Beef they were before the announcement of BSE. The only problem we have, and still have is our foriegn markets and even with NAIS there is no saying these markets would be open yet. South Korea is doing every thing it can to block US beef and NAIS wouldn't make one difference to this market.

This report just shows how unnecessary mandatory animal ID is. It might be useful in marketing in a voluntary system but I have yet to personally see that come about. The only information I have on an ID system is the buyer of my cattle would pay less for calves if they are ID'd. They cost him more money so he pays less for them. {sarcasm}Quite the advantage for me isn't it?{/sarcasm}

An ear tag never stopped a disease.

Farmers Say No to Animal Tags

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a program initiated by the federal government to attach a radio frequency identification device (RFID) to each of the approximately 40 million cows, sheep, chickens, goats, pigs, horses, and other animals on 1.4 million U.S. farms, enabling regulators to quickly track and respond to mad cow disease, bioterrorism, and other such calamities.

The program is billed as "voluntary" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but that term is used about as loosely as a staff sergeant's call for volunteers. Already there is talk that states failing to enforce NAIS could lose USDA funding for certain programs, and that farmers whose premises and animals aren't registered could encounter trouble should their animals be shipped out of state and thus be deemed part of "interstate commerce."

Exactly what I was worried about. A "voluntary" program that is coercively "voluntary." You do it our way voluntarily or you will be punished. Isn't that a great way to run our country. The Feds have done it before and they will do it again.

I would be curious to know where the talk is coming from. Almost all opponents of NAIS, including me, have speculated that the Feds will do this but I wonder if there is something concrete or it's just hot air we are spreading.

How to derail this? I guess more letters to local and state politicians against making NAIS coercively "voluntary." It's the wrong approach.

An ear tag never stopped a disease.

We finally hear from the NCBA/Meat Packers on the change to a voluntary ID from the USDA.

Cattle Editorial: USDA Puts Animal ID On Voluntary Track

For several years, NCBA members have consistently held that a national animal identification system is necessary, but can be better accomplished on a voluntary, market-driven, and producer-led basis. While a government-mandated and government-controlled system may seem like an easier and quicker solution, NCBA has never viewed this as the answer. We’ve always maintained that the industry could provide a more secure, confidential, and efficient solution that would be met with much less resistance and mistrust than a government mandate.

You know, Mike John really thinks a lot of himself. He takes all the credit for the NCBA for the USDA deciding to make NAIS voluntary.

As always, NCBA took a pragmatic stance on this issue – aimed not at gaining headlines or publicity, but simply at achieving positive results for cattlemen. That’s the approach that leads to long term success on major policy issues, and positive, productive solutions for the cattle industry.

Excuse me, I remember when the NCBA was all for mandatory NAIS and was a partner with the USDA in pushing it. Then there was enough of an outcry they backed off to a producer led system which still didn't satisfy the critics until they added voluntary to their program. They no more deserve credit for the change than pigs can fly. The producers that complained and made the NCBA change its policy deserve all the credit.

Now that the program is voluntary, what does Mike John say we should do?

At this time, one of the most critical areas in which the livestock industry needs to show improvement is premises registration. USDA Under Secretary Bruce Knight recently reported that 23 percent of premises nationwide are now registered, and the agency hopes to push that figure to 25 percent by 2007. While this represents modest progress, those figures tell me that premises registration needs a significant shot in the arm. USDA has updated its National Animal Identification System User Guide and premises registration materials, which are now available to cattlemen on line at: http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais. Along with its renewed emphasis on voluntary animal ID, these user-friendly tools should help USDA reach out to mainstream livestock producers. There will always be those who dig in their heels on the ID issue, but others simply need thorough, easy-to-access information to help them get started.

The cattle industry can certainly assist in this effort by better explaining the potential benefits of premises registration, as well as further steps that can be taken to register livestock movements and animal tracking data. These tools can help producers – both large and small – take advantage of value-added opportunities and improve their bottom line. But that process really begins with premises registration as a basic fundamental step. This isn’t confidential or sensitive data you’re providing. It’s really just contact and location information that can often be found in a phone book or other local directories.

So now that it's voluntary we should all march down to the USDA and sign up for the first step in giving up our rights, premise registration. If the information can be "found in a phone book or other local directories" as Mike John says, why do we need to go sign our premise up. The USDA has the information all ready and needs no help from us. The only thing they want from us is to voluntarily enslave ourselves to their system instead of standing up for our God given rights to reject their demands.

Mike Johns thinks is the first step to the profit opportunities that an ID program can bring. Show me the dollars. I had a long talk with the guy who buys my calves and feeds them and he was adamant that he did not want the critters to have an ID tag in them. The packers he sell to charge from $25-45 per head to scan the tag which kills his profit margin. If the packer or feeder won't pay for an animal with an ID tag, where is the profit opportunity for me. More money out of my pocket with no more coming in is a loss for me last time I checked So Mike John really needs a reality check.

THERE IS NO PROFIT OPPURTUNITY INVOLVED WITH ANIMAL ID, at this point. Yes, I admit that there might be profit some day but lets not put the cart before the horse. The profit might not be there for all of us. I remember quite a number of years ago the industry started a trend for producers like me to pre-condition calves before we sold them. We were told that this would bring us more money for our calves and that it was the way to go. I have resisted this movement to this day.

The reason why? I can profit fine without it. I sell my calves for the same price pre-conditioned calves of the same weight in my area sell for and I don't have the expense of pre-conditioning. Quality cattle don't need crutches like pre-conditioning or NAIS for a producer to make a profit. We can do it ourselves just fine. If I start losing money because I don't ID my calves then I can make the voluntary decision to register my place and ID my cattle. I don't need Mike John to tell me now is the time to register my place to show the USDA my good intentions.

Is this payoff to the USDA for making the program voluntary? You bet and Mike is trying to sell it to us.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, Mike John justs wants us to think it can.

Animal ID program remains voluntary for now

Facing wide opposition, Congress recently announced that the National Animal Identification System will be left voluntary at the present time.

“It will help the trust issues that some farmers and ranchers have raised about the national animal identification system,” Bruce Knight, undersecretary for marketing and regulation, is quoted as saying when making the announcement. “I’m certainly hoping to move beyond some of the very emotional debates on animal ID.”

Knight said that perhaps the debate against the system has only been an impediment to the process.

The program would require every location housing a single chicken, duck, turkey, cow, pig, goat, horse, or any other animal to be registered in a government database, where it’s assigned a number and GPS coordinates. Animal movements would be monitored on a national level with radio-frequency ear tags, retinal scans of eyes or DNA testing. The tracking system would pinpoint an animal’s movements within 48 hours after a disease was discovered.

Interesting article but I note a few things I would like to point out.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is the driving force behind NAIS and believes NAIS should be mandatory with every animal in the United States. Over the next 2 1/2 years the USDA had hoped to get 100 percent of premises registered.

Back to Colin Peterson. I didn't realize he was the whole driving force behind NAIS. I don know he still wants to make it mandatory. I've read quite a few places on the web where Peterson is a Conservative Democrat. I don't think it is a conservative sentiment to take away peoples freedom like he wants to with NAIS but what does this dumb cowboy know.

Alan Cassell, a member of the Knox County Cattleman’s Association and Black Angus farmer, said he thinks that animal identification is a good idea in the long run once the issue of cost is resolved. Originally, the idea was that the state would absorb part of the cost, although officials have changed some of their views about this.

The USDA now hopes to have all animals registered by January 2008, and to have full implementation of the system by January 2009. When asked whether he was pleased with the decision of Congress to bump the implementation goal to 2009, Cassell said, “Stretching it out over a length of time holds no bearing over the issue that it has to be done sometime.”

Cassell believes that, for most people who keep good records and manage their livestock well, it will require minimal outlay to make the transition from current records to the new identification system.

I think Cassell needs to get his head out of his ass and smell the cow shit. I damn well manage my livestock well but it would cost me a significant amount of money to move to an NAIS program, not a "minimal outlay" like he says. I would be curious to know what planet he lives on that he calls greater than $10,000 a "minimal outlay."

The last interesting item.

The identification program will not address imported meat products that enter the food supply chain.

So Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico or any other country can ship meat here and they don't have to meet the requirements of NAIS. So lets ask the question of what happens to these foreign products when they get here. For the most part they get mixed in with US beef by the packer so it becomes indistinguishable from an American product. Then lets say there is some contaminate found in it down the road further in the chain say at the restraunt level. Then what happens.

They trace the meat back to the plant then NAIS kicks in and they target all these American producers as the problem for the contamination and liquidate their herds for them. The authorities never once consider that it might be the foreign products that were introduced by the packer, since they can't be tracked, or the packer itself as the problem. They will just use NAIS to persecute American meat producers.

{sarcasm}Yep, NAIS is really going to help the US meat producers{/sarcasm}, help them right out of business thanks to our own government. {sarcasm}We really need it all right,{/sarcasm} if we want all our food to come from foreign countries.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but the ear tag could destroy American agriculture. Is that what you want to happen?

Is National ID Really Dead?

Premise identification and animal identification have been hot topics in the agriculture community for years now. With recent announcements from USDA regarding the fate of the NAIS and premise ID, as well as articles questioning the current status of the program, I feel it is important to remind Hoosier producers of Indiana’s current position on premise and animal ID.

The premise ID program in Indiana is not “dead.” Although USDA does not require producers to enroll in the program, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health decided that with the risks of foreign animal diseases, and bio-terrorism, the premise ID mandate was needed in our state. According to Indiana state law, as of Sept. 1, 2006, any location involved with the purchase, sale or exhibition of livestock must possess a premise ID number. Some exhibitions, including the Hoosier Beef Congress, are requiring all exhibitors provide their number to register.

I've been concerned with the USDA backing off the mandatory aspects of NAIS, the states would be forced to pick up mandatory NAIS by the Federal Government. Hell, it doesn't even take the feds to pressure them as you see. Indiana is going ahead with Mandatory premise registration without the USDA pushing them. What's next, mandatory id?

Anyone who cares about freedom needs to be aware of these state efforts and fight them. Fight the good fight, write those state officials and let them know you think mandatory NAIS is wrong and not to push it. Our voices are the tools to fight this.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, people just think the ear tag does.

Knight vows NAIS will never become mandatory

According to Dow Jones, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight promised Wednesday to keep the national animal identification system (NAIS) a permanently voluntary system. The Dow Jones article said Knight wants to end debate over whether or not the NAIS will ever become mandatory, because that worry is only impeding progress on implementing a voluntary system.

The Dow Jones report comes as USDA issued a 65-guide to the NAIS Wednesday. In an interview with Brownfield late last month, Knight also assured producers the NAIS would remain voluntary.

So, we have assurances and promises from Bruce Knight that NAIS will remain voluntary. What good is this promise? How can I be sure the next administration won't decide to make it mandatory? Hell, how can I be sure Johanns won't disavow Knight and decide to make it mandatory?

A government official's promise has absoultely no value in the real world and means nothing. Even if Congress were to pass the Emerson/Talent bill to make sure it stays voluntary it means nothig, the law could be changed down the line.

Knight's promise is really so much hot air since incoming House Agriculture Leader Collin Peterson has stated that he will work to ensure NAIS is mandatory which would blow Knight's promise to shreds.

We need to keep working on our Representatives on this issue with all the new members coming in. We can stop this if we try hard enough.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but if we work hard enough we can make sure the ear tag remains voluntary.

If you have paid any attention to me at all, you know I don't support the governments NAIS efforts. We don't need the government mandating yet another expensive program that us producers can't afford to implement for them.

Yesterday I worked my replacement heifers, heifer calves that I am keeping to make cows out of, and as part of the process I had a veterinarian on hand to bangs (Brucellosis) vaccinate them. Now Bangs vaccination requires a vet to do it. He tattoos the animals ear with his tattoo identifying he done it and then puts a metal tag in their ear with a unique identification number along with giving them their vaccination of course.

I asked the vet why the unique id number on the bangs tag couldn't be used as part of the NAIS system. It is a unique number that is sent into the government identifying an animal to a person and I have personally seen it used to track a critter as mine in less than 24 hours. He informed me that technically it should work just as well if not better than the proposed NAIS if the government just handled the paperwork right. According to him to many states do not file the paperwork right, a lot of it finds file 13, so that it is not useful for tracking purposes.

So, instead of throwing a lot of money away devising a new system, why can't we throw some of it at the existing Bangs system to fix the paperwork problems on the government level to track breeding age cows through the US? One of the main reasons behind NAIS is BSE. Since this disease is not transfered from cow to cow and only occurs in older cattle, usually breeding stock, wouldn't it make since to fix the broken system instead of reinventing the wheel?

Typical government inefficiency. Don't fix the broken, just make a new bureaucracy.

Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us. P. J. O'Rourke

It's always interesting to hear what Secretary of Agriculture Johanns has to say about NAIS. But I found an interesting story about the questions he is not answering about NAIS. I thought I would share these facts.

For example, Johanns repeatedly dodged questions about whether USDA's intent was to make and maintain NAIS as a voluntary or mandatory program. He stressed it's a voluntary program today and believes a voluntary program is preferable.

You will note that the draft plan has it as mandatory and he appears to be dodging the question on whether it will be or not. He keeps saying that he would "prefer" it to be voluntary , but no assurances are coming from him.

Johanns also demurs from questions aimed at assessing what level of voluntary participation is required for effective animal-health trace-back.

This is when it would become mandatory, if there is not enough voluntary participation. At what level will this happen? He won't commit.

Similarly, Johanns will not provide an answer about the system's cost, other than alluding to the $83 million USDA has already poured into it. One reason may be no such estimate exists, despite repeated requests from the industry for a cost-benefit analysis.

In a separate one-on-one interview, Chief Veterinary Officer, John Clifford, was more specific, implying producers will be responsible for purchasing and applying NAIS tags. He pointed out no state is currently charging producers to register their premises with NAIS, which is a prerequisite to obtaining official NAIS tags.

He doesn't want to talk about what it will cost the industry and producers. Some of his underlings are, but not Johanns He just keeps spouting how much the USDA has spent. So, since the USDA has spent money on it we are going to be forced to do it? Sounds like Johanns plan.

Other key questions still unanswered:
Who guarantees confidentiality? For obvious reasons, producers are unlikely to provide any NAIS data if they believe it could be accessed by anyone other than state and federal animal-health officials. Johanns said, "I agree with livestock producers who believe information about your livestock is your business, period."

Again, in a separate interview, Clifford was more specific. He explains USDA has protected producer info from prying eyes and the Freedom of Information Act via the Privacy Act. However, state animal-health officials and others continue to emphasize the need for legislation at both levels aimed at protecting NAIS data specifically.

What about working group recommendations? Each livestock species devised its own working group to make NAIS recommendations to the Secretary of Ag. Those from the Cattle Industry Working Group were submitted months ago and have yet to receive approval or denial from USDA. That means anything beyond premises registration remains speculation. In turn, that means few producers are likely to begin tagging cattle with NAIS tags until species-specific recommendations are adopted.

Is it all for all and one for all? Cattle and swine are more advanced in NAIS development than any of the others. Some other species are just getting started, while others continue to dig their feet in against elements of the program. It's difficult to imagine cattle producers embracing a program like NAIS if other species are allowed to sit on the sidelines.

Do you know what you're talking about? The cooperative effort between the livestock industry and the state and federal animal-health officials charged with protecting those industries emphasized the need for a national system for animal health purposes. Yet Johanns continues to harp on his belief the market will drive NAIS adoption, that there are already economic incentives in the domestic and international markets to provide ID.

All kinds of questions left unanswered by Johanns. Why is that? Scared because he doesn't want the industry figuring out what that this is against there interests? That's what I think, he doesn't want to be caught in a lie but can't tell the truth. Pretty uncomfortable position.

This final one really takes the cake. It has nothing to do with Johanns comments.

Perhaps the most positive outcome of the meeting was a public display of the livestock industry's ongoing resolve to develop and implement a national animal ID system for the purpose of protecting the nation's livestock. In an informal survey of the 600 meeting participants, 78% believe such a system is so imperative to protecting the livestock industry that it should be made mandatory.

In the opinion of the author of the piece, it is a positive outcome that some 78% of people at the conference think it should be mandatory. That is not the feeling out in the country. But what do you expect the outcome of the survey to be at a conference designed to promote NAIS. People that don't believe in it were not going to attend, only the full fledged supporters were there.

Keep those letters and phone calls going. Let your elected Representatives know how dangerous this is and how it needs derailed. Working together this can be stopped.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure has Johanns avoiding the hard questions.

According to Walter at noNAIS Rep Ron Paul has introduced an amendment to H.R.5384, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007, that would defund National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

AMENDMENT TO H.R., AS REPORTED
(AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS, 2007)
OFFERED BY MR. PAUL OF TEXAS

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following new sections:

SEC. . None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or administer the National Animal Identification System.

We must act immediately and call our Congressmen, the Capitol Switchboard can be reached at (202) 225-3121, and ask them to support Rep. Ron Paul's amendment to H.R. 5384. There is not time for letters or e-mail to make a difference, call now and maybe we can bury this unconstitutional invasion on our privacy and liberties.

Thanks

Some more interesting information on the "wonder tags," the RFID tags that the Government wants us to use on our cattle for the National Animal Identification System.

BeefTalk: Electronic identification - Two steps ahead, one back

Attempts to implement a national identification program for animal trace-back have been noticed. News about the outbreak of a disease with notable impact has increased the pro and con discussion, but the lasting outcome is far from defined.

The Dickinson Research Extension Center is involved in a project that is designed to monitor cattle in transit and locate cattle during shipment. This research involves evaluating the ability to read calves going on and off a truck using low-frequency RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

So, what did their research show?

For the optimist, the trial was 94.4 percent successful. For the practical cattle producer, only four of the six runs actually resulted in a 94.4 percent or higher success rate. In reality, only 66.7 percent of the runs actually achieved a realistic outcome, while 33.3 percent failed. One tag failed twice, requiring three reads to achieve a 100 percent read for this set of data.

ONLY 66.7% ACHIEVED A REALISTIC OUTCOME. That's horrible. The Government wants us to rely on a technology that is only effective 2/3 of the time. Sorry Charlie, that's just not going to work. How much more work and labor is this system going to entail with these kind of numbers? I don't even want to think about it. Running the cattle and reading the tags time and time again because the system doesn't work right. You start running over 500 cows with these kinds of numbers and the chances of getting a good read on them are slim to none.

This whole NAIS system needs to be scaled back a whole lot. A herd ID system with permanent metal tags would be the easiest, low tech solution that could be made to work for all. I still wouldn't like it particularly, but it would work.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure entices the government to foist off a failed technology on us, the producers.

In an interview to Inside Washington Today, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, who will become the Chairman of the Committee if the Democrats recapture the House, had this to say about NAIS.

-- Animal identification (ID): "From the start we have worked for an exemption for farmers via the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. I have sponsored two bills – one to set up a mandatory animal ID system based on the FAIR system that the [Ag] Department actually financed. In that, there was a FOI exemption. I introduced another bill with just the FOI exemption. And I got Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) to cosponsor it with me. But Davis was basically reigned in by the House leadership because this is a way to stop it. If they don't allow the FOI exemption to pass, then they can use this as an excuse not to do it (mandatory animal ID)."

-- Are you saying the House GOP leadership does not want mandatory animal ID? "The Republican leadership does not want it. USDA has been in our way the whole time on this deal. I could tell you stories….

"These guys don't want mandatory animal ID because the cattlemen don't want it and the cattlemen have inordinate power in this administration. And they have basically brought this thing to a standstill.

"We are not going to get the Japanese market back, largely because we don't have animal ID. We are kidding ourselves. I understand the people who don't want to do this, but my bill said that the government is going to pay for this – for the first round of tags, we will pay for the readers, we will pay for the whole system so all the farmer and rancher has to do is put the tag on the animal.

"The cost of this is like $20 million. Canada did it for $6 million, and Australia did it for $4 million. Of course they have fewer animals.

"So far the Department has spent $600 million and they have nothing to show for it."

-- You obviously are frustrated when it comes to the animal ID issue? "If they had followed my initial bill in 2004, animal ID would have been implemented by now or much further advanced.

"My judgment is they have their heads in the sand on this issue, especially when every other cattle producing country has a plan in place already. For us to sit there and not have a system is ludicrous.

"It is not a matter that they can't pass this (FOI exemption). It is my judgment that they don't want to pass it.

"And there is no leadership out of USDA on this. They have been all over the map on this topic. It is the biggest bunch of disinformation I have seen put out since the oil companies have been going after ethanol.

"USDA has people in their own Department who are frustrated. They are not providing the leadership. I have had these discussions with [USDA Secretary Mike] Johanns and he has kind of gone back and forth on it. In the end, the best thing I have been able to get out of him is that he admits that eventually this will become mandatory. But he won't say any timeframe. But the meat industry (AMI, packers, etc.,) is all for this mandatory animal ID system.

"Ironically what is likely going to make this happen is Wal-Mart and McDonald's because they are about to say 'Iif you don't have animal ID, we are not going to buy your meat.'"

Typical politics, he claims the Republicans don't want it and are blocking it. Most Republicans on the Committee are for it so I don't know what he is talking about. I love the part about how the Government is going to buy the first round of tags and all the readers. What good is that going to do me, I will need thousands of dollars of tags a year so the first round is not real helpful and money is not the reason i oppose this. the loss of personal freedom and liberty and the mandate that I have to do it are most of the reasons. The extra work to tag all my calves, which I don't do now, is the other part. The amount of work it will pile on me is tremendous.

The Last part of this though is what people need to think about.

-- If the Democrats regain control of the House, would that accelerate the timeline for mandatory animal ID? "Absolutely. That bill would be out of my committee in short effort. And I think I have support in the whole House, and I think in the Senate, to move this."

The NAIS bill would advance in short order should Democrats take the House. If that doesn't scare freedom minded Americans, I don't know what will.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure shows the true colors of freedom loving people.

USDA RELEASES BSE PREVALENCE ESTIMATE FOR U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced USDA's estimate of the prevalence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States.

"Our enhanced BSE surveillance program has been an enormous undertaking, but well worth the effort," said Johanns. "We can now say, based on science, that the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extraordinarily low. The testing and analysis reinforce our confidence in the health of the U.S. cattle herd, while our interlocking safeguards, including the removal of specified risk materials and the feed ban, protect animal and human health."

Four to seven animals is all they figure have BSE in the US. That's really good news. These statistical analysis always seem a little like witchcraft to me but i know most of the time they are valid.

The bigger question this brings up is, if the prevalence of BSE is so low in the US, why do we need the national Animal Identification System (NAIS) to track all animals? The original justification was the BSE crisis. If there is no BSE crisis, why track all the animals? I will tell you, to benefit the big corporations at the expense of the producers in this country. That's all NAIS is about. Animal health is not the driving force, it is the lie being used by the USDA/meat packers to drive this agenda.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, it's just used to feed bologna to the people of the US.